2 Fitchburg women charged in brutal beating

FITCHBURG -- Two Fitchburg women are facing a host of charges after they allegedly kidnapped and beat a 22-year-old Myrtle Avenue woman with a studded belt and a crowbar Wednesday night.

According to court documents, the alleged beating was over a $140 drug debt. The woman also allegedly threatened to cut off the woman's fingers.

Glenny Soto, 30, of 157 Green St., Apt. 3, is charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, armed assault in a dwelling, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and armed assault (firearm) in a dwelling.

Carla Agosto, 22, of 132 Snow St., Apt. 3, is charged with kidnapping, armed assault (firearm) in a dwelling, and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

According to police reports included with court documents, the woman told police she was home Wednesday, about 11 p.m., when Soto and Agosto appeared at her door. Outside, Soto allegedly grabbed the woman by the hair and forced her to walk to Soto's apartment, where she began screaming about a drug debt.

The woman told police she had owed Soto $140 for cocaine but had paid her in full, and that Soto did not remember because she was high on Klonopin at the time.

Once inside, Agosto allegedly pulled out a .22-caliber handgun and pointed it at the woman's chest from 2 feet away. Soto allegedly beat the woman all over her body with the studded belt, and then struck her several times over the head and in the face with a crowbar.

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The woman told police that another unknown man and woman who were with the alleged assailants witnessed the beating, and Soto allegedly told her they and Agosto were there "so when I kill you they get rid of all of the evidence."

At one point, the woman said, Agosto went into another room where there were children and told them something akin to, "If anybody asks, you guys did not see or hear anything."

The woman told police she was able to strike a deal with Soto, promising to borrow money to repay the debt. Soto, Agosto and the unknown male followed the woman outside, where she ran away, screaming for help and losing her boot in the process. The woman ran toward Myrtle Avenue and found a neighbor who helped her into her apartment.

The neighbor told police that when he refused to open the door for Agosto, Agosto allegedly threatened him with a gun. He and the woman hid on the roof of the building for about an hour while Agosto and Soto allegedly broke in and began to rummage through the apartments to find them.

After they left, a female neighbor told the woman she had been shown a video of the beating and that Soto and Agosto were "laughing about it like it was a joke," the report states.

The woman then went to the Police Department, where officers observed her face and both eyes to be bruised and swollen, and welts all over her arms, legs and back. She was brought by ambulance to HealthAlliance Hospital Leominster and was transferred to UMass Medical Center in Worcester due to bleeding of the brain, but doctors said her injuries were not life-threatening.

After the incident was reported, six officers went to Soto's apartment, armed with a door ram, a ballistic shield and a rifle. When she answered the door, the officers ordered her to the ground and arrested her.

A search of the apartment reportedly turned up what appeared to be a line of cocaine in plain view in the bathroom and individually packaged baggies of crack cocaine in a box next to the kitchen sink. A tan boot, as the victim had described losing, was still in front of the house.

In one room, which officers described as being filthy and without furniture, two of Soto's children were located. In another room, where the altercation had allegedly occurred, officers found her two other children, sleeping on an old, stained mattress on the floor.

Police reported finding the crowbar and belt in Soto's bedroom, which they observed to be "filthy with dirty clothes, dog urine and feces."

"The apartment was uninhabitable for human beings," Officer Christopher Cordio wrote in a report.

The four children, ages 6, 9, 11 and 12, were interviewed by police and placed in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families. Animal-control officers removed a small white dog and three puppies that appeared to be about 2 weeks old.

During booking, a rolled-up $5 bill with cocaine residue was reportedly found in Soto's bra.

Agosto was later arrested on Myrtle Avenue, and she denied possessing a firearm. None turned up in a search of her apartment.

Soto and Agosto were arraigned in Fitchburg District Court on Thursday and held without bail Monday pending dangerousness hearings.

Bail for each was set at $3,000 cash or $30,000 surety, with GPS monitoring, home confinement and weekly reporting to probation. Both were ordered to stay away from and have no contact with the victim. They are due back in court Nov. 5.

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